A/HRC/18/48 50. The prevalence of female genital mutilation and circumcision in Somaliland is almost universal. A total of 98 per cent of women aged between 15 and 49 have undergone the procedure, with 77 per cent of them subjected to the most severe form. There is no national law against female genital mutilation, although efforts have been made in the recent past to introduce relevant legislation. Moreover, there is no national policy or strategy for the eradication of this practice. The Government and many civil society organizations have initiated different efforts and outreach programmes to encourage communities to abandon the practice. In June 2011, religious leaders and the Minister for Religious Affairs issued a public declaration in which they stated that the practice did not have its basis in religion, and called for the abandonment of the practice. Most agreed that unless there was a Government policy to criminalize the act, mutilation will continue. 51. With regard to the participation of Somaliland in the universal periodic review process of Somalia, which was due in May 2011, the Minister for Labour told the independent expert that Somaliland was willing to cooperate with the Transitional Federal Government on the review. The relations of the previous Government with the Transitional Federal Government were poor, but the present Government has changed its approach. The Minister added, however, that the approach of the United Nations to the issue of Somalia/Somaliland was a violation of the right to self-determination by the people of Somaliland. VIII. Human rights situation in Puntland 52. The independent expert visited Puntland on 23 and 24 February and had useful meetings with the Vice President and some members of the Puntland cabinet. He also met with the United Nations team, as well as members of the civil society in Garowe and Galkayo. The information on Puntland presented below is thus based on discussions held during that trip and information subsequently provided by different sources. 53. The overall security situation in Puntland remains relatively calm. However, since the beginning of 2011, there have been waves of violence and assassinations, mostly in Galkayo, Bossaso and areas around Galgala. Assassinations have targeted businessmen, elders, religious leaders, judicial officials and security and law enforcement officials. While some of these acts should be regarded as common criminal matters, others appear to be either clan-revenge killings or conducted by the Atam militia, reported to have close ties with Al-Shabaab. There are reports of peace talks between President Farole and Atam which have apparently resulted in preliminary agreements, including an announced amnesty. The independent expert welcomes these steps, but urges all parties to reflect the necessary balance between peace and justice and integrate core international law principles, such as on the limits to the permissible scope of amnesty laws. 54. The Government of Puntland has taken some measures to reduce violence and insecurity, including the deployment in April 2011 of additional security forces in Galkayo and the imposition of a night-time curfew in Bossaso, which was revoked in May. Some of the measures taken to address insecurity, however, appeared arbitrary and violated due process rights. For instance, in June, following the assassination of a former army colonel in Bossaso, security forces conducted a search operation that resulted in more than a 100 people being arrested. 55. Nonetheless, killings, assassinations and other violent acts continued to be reported, and the Government has been widely criticized by sections of society for failing to address the problem. In June, the Governor of the Bari region resigned owing to the growing insecurity in the region and the reportedly poor cooperation of the central administration to address the insecurity. In July, a new Minister for Security was appointed. 11